Arbre de Vie

Brewer: Bayou Teche

Style: Smoked Ale

This Louisiana-bred beer packs an impressive range of flavors into an amber, 7 percent alcohol beer. Bayou Teche took its applewood-smoked Boucanee ale, added apples, and aged it in a single Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel — this is a very limited run. The apple and smoke blend seamlessly, while bourbon and oak creep in around the edges of your tongue. Among the many things Arbre de Vie achieves, it proves you can find great success in barrel-aging without a massive, dark brew.